It is safe to say that I think about my experience in Lesotho every
day. Even though it has only been two months since our trip, I feel like it was
yesterday that I was living in the beautiful Mountain Kingdom. My experiences,
the people I met and the friendships I made will forever be memories that I
hold close to my heart. One experience I would like to share with you, is about
our morning spent at the Baylor Pediatric AIDS Clinic. It is tradition for the
Wittenberg trips to go to Baylor and throw a carnival for the children waiting
to be treated. We have tattoos, bubbles, a parachute, bracelet-making and more.
My brother, Zac Daniels, went on the Wittenberg trip in the summer of 2011 and
told me about how impactful, yet hard the day at Baylor would be. I started off
at the bracelet-making station, which is where I met someone very special. A
young girl, around 9, came and sat down next to me and started picking out
beads for a bracelet. However, her hands and body were shaking so hard that she
could not hold the thread steady enough to add beads. I began helping her by
holding the thread, but even after completing a bracelet she was still shaking
and had not cracked a smile yet. I decided to take her over to the bubbled
station to see if I could break her out of her shell. I began by showing her
how to blow the bubbles and her face was filled with wonder. I offered the
bubble wand to her and as she blew her first bubble, I finally saw her smile.
It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever experienced.
We spent the rest of the day playing with bubbles, the parachute
and on the playground. I swear I have
never seen a child so happy in my life. The transformation I witnessed from a
scared and shaking child to a happy, carefree, exuberant little girl was
incredible. She didn’t speak one word
of English, so I never even learned her name, but she became one of the most
important people I’ve ever met. This young girl reminded me about what it means
to be a child again and how to have fun without a care in the world.
Every day I spent in Lesotho was memorable and life-changing, but
my experience at Baylor AIDS Clinic with this little girl will forever be one
of the most important days of my life. Leaving her at the end of the afternoon
was one of the hardest things I have ever experienced. I think about her all
the time and hope that experiences the wonder of bubbles and the enjoyment of
being a child every day.
Ka Khostso,
Kenzie Daniels
Kenzie is a student at Wittenberg University
